Means for attaching cutter picks to their supports



A. PARTINGTON ET AL 2,890,873

June 16, 1959 MEANS FOR ATTACHING CUTTER PICKS TO THEIR SUPPORTS Filed NOV. 15, 1956 T 2 SheetsSheet 1 June 16, 1959 A. PARTINGTON ETAL 2,890,873 MEANS FOR ATTACH ING CUTTER PICKS TO THEIR SUPPORTS Filed Nov. 15, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E v D United States Patent 2,890,873 MEANS FOR ATTACHING CUTIER PICKS T0 y ,THEIRSUPPORTS r i Alan Partington, Stretton, Burton-on-Trent, "and Ronald Louis John MacRae, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, England, as-

signors to Coal Industry (Patents) Limited, London,

This invention relates to means for attaching cutter picks or other tools to their supports for cutting, bursting or loading materials, for example in coal mining machines; the supports may be chains, discs, drums or blades. The term cutter picks used herein is intended to include other tools.

Owing to the arduous conditions of operation, known methods of attaching cutter picks to their supports have not always been satisfactory, being for example sometimes unduly expensive in manufacture or not holding the picks with the necessary security or rendering the changing of the picks or of the pick lacing or positioning unduly diflicult.

It is therefore an objection of the invention to provide improved means for attaching cutter picks to their supports.

According to the invention there is provided a means for attaching cutter picks to their support comprising a body having a channel, spacers within said channel, and means for tightening the spacers against the shanks of picks extending into said channel. Preferably the cross section of the channel and the spacers is such that the spacers cannot leave the channel except at the ends, for example this cross-section may be like that of an inverted T-slot, but many other forms of cross-section such as a dovetail form or a tapering form with straight and/or curved sides are possible. Preferably the shanks of the picks, however, are so formed that they can be put into and removed from the channel at the top thereof when the spacers are not tightened against the shanks, and for this reason it is preferred to select for the channel cross-section a shape such as the inverted T-slot wherein the channel has parallel surfaces against which the sides of the pick shanks engage. The means for tightening the spacers against the shanks of the picks comprises a wedge which can be forced in between two spacers, and for forcing in the wedge it is advantageous to employ a nut on a screw-threaded shank on the wedge. The end surfaces of the spacers which engage the pick shanks may be given any desired form, but it is preferred to give them serrations to ensure security, and it is also preferred to make the side surfaces of the pick shanks inclined so that the pick shanks are tapered so that the risk of losing a pick is reduced even if some slackness of the spacers should develop. Preferably at one or both ends the channel is closed by an end spacer locked in position, and with advantage the end spacer is or spacers are locked in position by one or more taper pins. In one advantageous form the body having the channel is secured to or formed integrally with one or more chain links so that a plurality of such bodies can be assembled to form a cutter chain. Further and optional features of the invention appear from the following description and claims and the accompanying drawings, in which the invention is illustrated by way of example,

Figure 1 being a side elevation of part of a cutter-chain assembly embodying means for attaching the cutter picks according to the invention,

Figure 2 a view in the direction of the arrow II of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 a view in section on the line III--III of Figure 1.

The illustrated cutter-chain assembly comprises chain links 10 interconnected by means of pins 11 on which are rollers 12. a

Secured to or formed integrally with the chain links 10 are bodies 13 having channels 14 in which are located the shanks. of the cutter picks 15. As can be seen from Figure 1, the cross-sectional form of the channels 14. is that of an inverted T, but the shanks of the cutter picks have straight sides.

Figures 2 and 3 show how spacers 16 to 23 are located in the channel 14. The end spacers 16 and 23 form fixed abutments and are locked in position by means of taper pins 24 and 25 respectively. The spacers are all of inverted T form and fit in and are positively retained in the channels 14 as shown in Figure 1. As can be seen from Figure 2 the shanks of the cutter picks 15 are tapered, being somewhat wider at the bottom, and the surfaces of the spacers 16 to 23 which engage the shanks are serrated. The spacers 16 and 17 are so shaped that the cutter pick 15 which is located between them is held at an angle to the body 13.

The spacers 19 and 20 are shaped to fit against a wedge 26 which is located between them, and this wedge 26 has a screw-threaded shank 27 on which is a nut 28. By tightening the nut 28 the wedge is drawn further into the space between the spacers 19 and 20, and thereby the spacers and cutter picks are forced outwardly against the anchored end spacers 16 and 23 and so the whole assembly of spacers and cutter picks can be locked with great rigidity in the body 13.

By loosening the nut 28 and withdrawing the wedge 26 the spacers 17 to 22 can be given sufiicient free longitudinal movement to allow the cutter picks 15 to be exchanged.

In adjacent bodies 13 the spacers 16 and 23 may be of different sizes to vary the positioning of the cutter picks 15, and it is also possible to substitute two or more shorter spacers for each of the spacers 17, 18, 21 and 22 to provide great flexibility in the cutter pick lacing.

Various modifications can be introduced without departing from the invention. For example, the wedge 26 may be reversed so that the nut 28 is at the rear of the body 13, a domed nut can be used, or the wedge 26 may be arranged at an angle instead of being horizontal as shown; alternatively it may be vertical. The crosssection of the wedge need not be rectangular as illustrated, but it can be oval or circular or of any other desired form, the spacers 19 and 20 being made of complementary form. Other means than taper pins may be employed for anchoring the end spacers, for example keys, bolts or end plates, or if desired one of the end spacers can be permanently fixed, for example by being welded in position or formed integrally with the body 13.

The body having the channel need not necessarily be in the form of a chain link, but could be in the form of a bar of suitable section secured to the periphery or lateral face of a disc or drum. The invention may also be applied to securing cutters in a fiat plane, for example on a plough blade.

We claim:

1. A means for attaching cutter picks to a support, comprising a body having a channel, a plurality of spacers capable of longitudinal movement in said channel, two fixed abutments arranged one at each end of said channel, a wedge extending between two of said spacers, and means for forcing in said wedge and so tightening said spacers against said fixed abutments and against cutter pick shanks extending into said channel between said 3 spacers, said spacers having inclined end surfaces where by gaps between said spacers taper towards the open side of said channel.

2. A means for attaching cutter picks to a support comprising a body having a channel, a plurality of spacers capable of longitudinal movement in said channel, two fixed abutments arranged one at each end of said channel, a wedge extending between two of said spacers, a

screw-threaded shank secured tosaid wedge and extending through an aperture in said body, and a nut on said shank and capable of being tightened against said body clinedend surfaces whereby :gaps between said spacers taper towards the open side of said channel and said channel and said spacers being of cross-sections such that said spacers are positively retained in said channel.

3. A means as claimed in claim 2, said body being formed as a chain link whereby a plurality of such bodies can be joined to form a cutter-chain.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 295,724 Bodenstein Mar. 25 1884 1,455,729 Ingman a May 15, 1923 1,556,992 Holmes Oct. 13, 1925 1,663,728 Phelps Mar. 27, 1928 2,223,213 Kersten Nov. 26, 1940 2,439,400 Simmons r' Apr. 13, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain of 1902 

